


A Hogwarts Tale: Year One

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action, Drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-03-11
Updated: 2006-03-11
Packaged: 2019-01-19 14:26:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12412056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: It's Cho Chang's first year at Hogwart's, death seems to follow her, a mystery surrounds her, a destiny is revealed.





	1. Ministry of Magic

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

**CHAPTER ONE** ****

MINISTRY OF MAGIC 

****

****

“It’s here! Wake up, Cho! It’s here!” 

Cho Chang woke up at the sound of her little sister’s voice; she pushed her hair out of her face and sat up on her bed. Her sister came flying through the door and jumped right on her bed. 

“It’s here, Cho, it’s here!” her sister had an excited look on her face, as though she were about to burst.

“Calm down, what’s here?” she asked, though her sister looked back up at her as though she was hysterical. 

“Why, your Hogwarts letter of course,” she said with a smile. Hogwarts was a school for witches and wizards. There, you were taught magic and potions, and other studies essential for a witch or wizard. Her parents and her older brother, Dave, had told her all about Hogwarts since she was two. She had always dreamed of going to Hogwarts and studying with the finest teachers in the wizarding world. Now, with her eleventh birthday today, she was finally old enough to go to Hogwarts. 

“Are you serious?” she asked, trying to repress a smile. 

“Yes, here!” her sister replied, laughing and handing her the letter. Cho immediately tore it open, and stared at the contents. “Well, go on then, read it!” 

“All right. ‘ _Dear Ms. Chang, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_ -” she stopped upon hearing her mom’s voice coming from the foot of the stairs. 

“Kids! Come down! Breakfast is ready!” 

Cho’s sister immediately jumped off her bed, but Cho waited until her sister was gone before she got dressed. Her room was small and rectangular, with a bed in the corner. Paraphernalia from her favorite Quidditch team, the Tornados, covered her entire room- posters, bewitched toys of the team, stickers, anything the team had ever sponsored. She walked out of her room, down the stairs, and into the dining room. The room was huge and very fancy, with large family pictures filling the walls. Her family was waiting at the dinner table; they all looked at her as she walked towards them. 

“Happy Birthday!” her father cried, and immediately after, the rest of her family did the same. 

“So what’s all the commotion, Jennifer?” her mother asked. 

“Cho’s got her first Hogwarts letter!” Cho’s sister said, with a smile. 

“Really? Oh my, this _is_ good news!” Cho’s mom said, about to cry. 

“This calls for a celebration!” her brother Dave said cheerfully. 

“We can’t today, because the Minister of Magic is coming to visit,” said Cho’s father disappointingly. 

“Can’t he come another time?” begged Jennifer. 

“I’m sorry, but the Minister needs to discuss some important business with us…” said Cho’s mother, stopped by numerous moans of disappointment from the whole family. “… And I want all of you to be on your best behavior when the Minister gets here.” she continued. 

“Why? Today is Cho’s birthday!” said Jennifer. 

“It’s is the only time the Minister could have time to see us outside the Ministry.” said Cho’s mother, in her own defense. Cho had remained quiet as the pointless argument went on. She didn’t care whether the Minister was coming today. She was so excited about going to Hogwarts that she didn’t care about anything else, though she still had two months until school begun. 

“I… don’t mind, really…” Cho finally muttered out. At this, Jennifer looked at her as though it was the wrong thing to say, though her mother had a smile of victory. 

“Good, now Cho, finish your breakfast, and then you can open your presents.” said Cho’s mother with another smile on her face. 

Cho ate fast but steadily, and in a few minutes she was done. She immediately got up and walked into the den, followed by her family. Jennifer was the first to give Cho a present, which she carefully opened. A sky-blue badge lay inside the wrappings, emblazoned with a double gold T that was the symbol for the Tornados. Her brother Dave gave Cho her second gift, which, to Cho’s excitement, was a cat! 

“You’re going to need to have a pet, when you go to Hogwarts.” Dave said with a smile. 

“What are you going to name it?” Jennifer asked excitedly. 

“I’m going to name her… Ginger.” Cho said happily. She had always wanted a pet, but her parents never allowed it. Now she was going to Hogwarts, though, it seemed inevitable. 

She received a beautiful gold and diamond necklace from her mother, and from her father, she received a stunning set of gold earrings and a bracelet to match her necklace. Though Cho was grateful for all the things she had been given, she still wished that she had had more presents. 

“Now, this is from your father and I.” her mother handed Cho a long, thin box that could only contain one thing. Cho immediately opened the present – it was a broom. But it was not just _any_ broom; it was a Comet Two Sixty, the fastest broom to come out so far! Her favorite sport in the world was Quidditch, and she would give anything to play professionally. She could not express her gratitude toward her parents enough, all she could say was: “Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!” She felt a tear drip down the left side of her of her face, from joy. 

She would have to practice, if she wanted to play on one of the Quidditch teams at Hogwarts, although there was no way she would be on any team for a while, first years were not usually allowed on house teams. 

“You’re welcome. We know how much you love to play Quidditch, so it seemed the right thing to do.” her mother said as she wiped Cho’s tears away. 

She was so excited, that she got up and went outside to try out her new broom. She walked to the middle of the lawn, and mounted the broom. Cho had never flown a new broom before, only her brother’s old one, so she was amazed at the way that her new broom responded to her lightest touch. She went flying into the morning sky, and felt a surge of energy as she continued to soar into the air. She felt at peace as the wind blew her hair, and experienced a rush of happiness. Cho raced through the sky, around her street and back onto her front lawn. 

The rest of the day seemed to go by in an instant, and by the time night fell, the whole family was getting ready for the Minister’s arrival. Cho wore the jewelry she had been given that day, and a beautiful red dress she had received her previous birthday. She had never worn the dress before - she had never had any reason to, as no one important ever came to her house, so her family dress hadn’t needed to dress smartly before. In fact, Cho had no idea why the Minister would want to see her family, as her parents worked at the Ministry - why could he not see them there? The whole family waited at the front door and waited anxiously for the Minister to arrive. 

The Minister arrived some time after eight. He was small, pudgy, had grey hair and wore a rather old looking bowler hat. He looked very serious but happy, and he greeted the family with much enthusiasm. 

“You must be little Jennifer, I’ve heard all about you. You must be Cho; you look beautiful in that dress. Dave! How are you, I haven’t seen you since you were a baby! It’s so good to finally meet you all!” he said merrily, as they showed him to the dining room. 

They all sat down, as their house-elf, Harold, came and placed the food on the table. He then retreated to the kitchen where they did not hear from him for the rest of the night. They spent the evening talking about Cho and Jennifer, when they were babies, and about how Dave was the Head Boy at Hogwarts. 

“You know, today is Cho’s birthday, Minister.” Jennifer said coolly, who still had not forgiven the Minister for coming that evening. 

“You don’t say! Well, how old are you, my dear?” he asked with a smile. 

“I’m eleven.” she responded. 

“Well, let’s have a toast for young Cho here,” he cried, raising his glass. The others followed suit. “To Cho, may your years bring you happiness, as you steadily become a fine young woman and a talented witch.” he said, as he drank his wine. 

“You know, Minister,” Jennifer finally muttered out an hour later, obviously forcing herself not to say anything rudely. “Cho said, the other day, she would have liked to go and see the ministry, maybe _you_ could give her a tour!” Both her parents gave her an angry look. 

“Merlin’s Beard! That’s a splendid idea! It would make up for the intrusion on your birthday, bring her over next week.” he said happily. 

“Well, now that that’s settled, it’s time for you guys to go to sleep. Now say good night to the Minister and get ready for bed.” said Cho’s mother. They said good night and hurried up the stairs. 

Cho brushed her teeth, changed into her nightgown, and lay on her bed as she tried to go to sleep. She could not help but wonder why the Minister had wanted to speak to her parents. What could be so important that they did not want to be overheard by others? She realized she was right above the dinning room; she got off her bed and placed her ear on the cold wood floor. 

“So, what was it you wanted to speak to us about, Minister?” Cho’s father said, concernedly. 

“No one knows about it yet, but the Ministry was broken into two days ago,” said the Minister. 

“What, by whom?” Cho’s mother asked, shocked. 

“One of the security members said they saw…” he seemed determined not to say the name, but he sighed and continued. “… Mary Rosalind.” 

“What?” said Cho’s father. 

“Isn’t she supposed to be… dead?” inquired Cho’s mother. 

“It might have been someone else; security said it was rather dark at the time.” 

“What do you think she wanted in the Ministry?” said Cho’s father. 

“Well, you see, when we thought she… uh… was… dead, her wand was left behind –” 

“– So you think she went to get her wand back?” interrupted Cho’s mother. 

“She had actually managed to get her wand back.” 

“You don’t think she will… try to go after…”she paused, and for a moment Cho seemed to stop too. “… Cho, do you?” said Cho’s mother. Cho was motionless as she lay there on the floor; she had no idea why Mary Rosalind would want to kill her. 

“I think, at this stage, anything is possible.” 

“Why do you think she would want to show up, after nine years?” said Cho’s father, nervously. 

“I have no idea,” the Minister said seriously. “But I would not get too worried, after all, we really don’t know if it’s her.” 

“But what about the fact that her wand was stolen?” her mother said angrily. 

“Maybe it was someone trying to get the wand for her.” 

“But, either way, she is working to try and kill Cho!” said her father heatedly. 

“Can’t you give her some kind of bodyguard, to watch her all the time?” said her mother. 

“All right, fine, I’ll send an Auror over in the morning, but now I’m afraid it’s rather late, and I really have to leave,” he said, obviously agitated. Cho heard his footsteps going to the door, and then he was gone. 

Cho lay there, on the floor, the entire night, barely getting any sleep; it was about nine in the morning when she decided to get up. Cho changed her clothes, which she found a bit difficult with little models of the Tornados players flying around her head. She walked downstairs, and found a woman sitting at the table, reading that day’s _Daily Prophet_. The woman placed the newspaper down and Cho got a good look at her. The woman had short, golden brown hair, with beautiful blue eyes. She was definitely somewhere around 35; she wore a long brown overcoat and a matching bowler hat. She looked back at Cho with a smile, as Cho surveyed her, not moving from the stairs. 

“Hello, Cho, come sit down.” She pointed to a chair opposite hers; Cho walked down and sat in the chair, not saying a word. “My name is Sheryl MacKardon and I’ll be your body guard for the time being.” she said merrily. 

“I don’t mean to be rude, but why do I need a body guard?” Cho asked. She was lying, she knew perfectly well why she needed a bodyguard, but she still wanted to get more information out of her new bodyguard. 

“The Minister thinks you’re in danger, and so he sent me,” she responded. “

In danger?” Cho said innocently. 

“I can’t give you the details, but you could be in grave danger, and until the minister gives the all clear, you will be watched all the time.” said Sheryl, rather seriously. 

So, all the time, Cho was being monitored, day and night until the day of her tour of the ministry. Her parents scheduled a transport to take Cho through London, where they would go to the Ministry; her parents had already left for the Ministry by floo powder. Cho was forced to ride with her bodyguard, knowing that she would not enjoy the trip. 

“So, Cho, why are you so quiet all the time? I’ve never seen you go out or do anything, you just stay in your room!” said her body guard. 

“I guess that make me easier to watch, doesn’t it?” she said coldly, she was in no mood to talk, for she hated her bodyguard’s feeble attempts to make friends. 

They did not say another word to each other as they left, making a silence that Sheryl felt was unnerving. They finally reached a road that had a few broken down shops, a pub, an overfilled dumpster, and a red telephone box. They got out of the car, walked into the telephone box, and closed the door. Sheryl pushed several buttons on the telephone, and a cool female voice spoke inside the telephone box. 

“Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business.” the voice said loudly, making Cho feel as though the woman was standing next to her. 

“Sheryl Mac Kardon, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Auror, here under orders to escort Cho Chang, who has an appointment with the Minister.” she said cheerily. 

“Thank you. Visitor, please take the badge and attach it to the front of your robes.” said the cool voice. There were some clinking noises, and out of the metal chute, where returned coins usually appeared, came a silver badge. 

Sheryl handed the badge to Cho. Written on the badge were the words _Cho Chang, Minister Appointment_. Cho placed the badge on her coat, next to her Tornados badge. 

“Visitor to the Ministry,” said the cool voice. “You are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium.” 

The telephone box shook violently as it slowly sunk into the ground, and soon darkness obscured everything. Loud noises could be heard around the box as it slowly made its way through the ground. After about five minutes in total darkness, light finally appeared. It slowly descended, and a blinding golden light hit Cho in the face. She couldn’t see anything – her eyes had to adjust to the brightness. 

“The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day.” said the woman’s voice. 

The box doors opened and they both walked out to a long hall with very well polished wood floors. The ceiling was a bluish color, with golden symbols that were continually moving and changing. The walls were a shiny dark wood and had many gilded fireplaces set into them. Witches and wizards were coming out of the fireplaces on the left; and on the right were witches and wizards leaving the Ministry. 

Halfway down the hall was the most beautiful fountain Cho had ever seen; it was a circular fountain with five golden statues in the middle. A large wizard stood in the middle of the group, pointing straight into the air. A beautiful witch stood to the wizards left, raising her wand as well. A centaur, stood behind the wizard, was carrying a bow in his right hand and arrow in his left. A house-elf stood to the wizard’s right, raising his arms and staring at the wizard. A troll stood in the upper left side of the wizard. He had his arms to his sides, and was also looking at the wizard. 

Inside the fountain were hundreds of Sickles and Knuts, all for donation to the magical hospital, St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Many witches and wizards seemed to be giving their money to the fountain, so Cho walked over to the fountain and dropped five Sickles into it. She strolled back to her bodyguard, and they both walked over to the security desk. A wizard wearing blue robes sat at the desk, reading the _Daily Prophet_. 

“Hello, Eric!” Sheryl said happily. 

“Oh, hello, Sheryl, and to what do I owe the pleasure?” he asked cheerfully. “I’m just here escorting a visitor.” 

“Right, just step over here, please.” he said, smiling owlishly at Cho. She walked forward, and he got up and scanned her with a small flexible golden rod. “Wand?” he said, after he was satisfied that she was not carrying anything dangerous. 

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have one yet.” Cho replied. 

“All right, then you are free to go.” he said, grinning slightly unnervingly at her. 

Together, they walked through the gates to a smaller hall, where twenty or thirty lifts stood behind beautiful golden gates. They hurried through the crowd to one of the lifts, where they were forced to the back as it slowly ascended. Witches and wizards got on and off the lift, and soon only a handful of people were still inside. Suddenly, at one stop, everyone immediately got out of the lift. Sheryl hurried off, in the opposite direction from the crowd, to a door at the left and Cho had to run to catch up. They walked through endless corridors, going left to right, and went up a flight of stairs passing three offices. They finally came to a halt at a long hallway with a door at the end. They walked to the door and opened it to a waiting room. A woman sat behind a desk next to two large black doors, and Sheryl walked over to the woman’s desk. 

“Yes?” said the woman. 

“I’m here escorting Cho Chang, who has an appointment with the Minister.” 

“Please go ahead and sit down, I’ll let him know you’re here.” said the woman and she disappeared into the Minister’s office, behind the black doors. Sheryl sat down and Cho soon did the same, and they waited there for about two minutes until the woman came back out. 

“The Minister will see you now.” she said, as she walked back to her desk. 

“You go on ahead, I have to get to work.” Sheryl said happily. Cho looked at her, worried. “Don’t worry, you’re not in any danger here.” she said confidently. Cho walked into the Minister’s office. It was surprisingly small; to Cho’s left was a wall where every previous Minister’s picture was on the wall. To Cho’s right was a fireplace; over the fireplace was a huge painting of the Minister. The walls were very well polished wood, the carpet was a black with little symbols on it, which Cho realised were the Ministry’s logo. The Minister’s desk was a cherry red color wood, there was several pictures on his desk, as well as numerous newspapers clippings, and a lot of paperwork. A small lamp was pointing at the newspapers. 

“Hello, Cho.” said the Minister graciously. 

“Hello, Minister!” she replied. 

“Well, Cho, shall we go, then?” he said, getting up from his leather chair. He took off, leaving Cho behind, and it took her a second to follow. They walked through the long hallway, through the offices, down the stairs, and then into an office with cubicles and rooms. 

“This is the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office, here they… well, you can guess what they do here. Hello Bob, mighty fine day today, don’t you think?” he said and he continued onwards. They turned down a long corridor, which led to the lift. “Here is where they have the Auror Headquarters, they protect people, and defeat dark wizards. Also, if someone has broken a law, we send an Auror or several depending on how big a problem it is. They also have the Wizengamot Administration office,” he said as they passed a door saying that on it. “Did you know the Ministry was established in 1542, yes, the magical community felt there was a need for a Government, after a… mentally disturbed witch escaped from St Mungo’s and began to terrorize the wizarding community; yes, the very first Minister was Harvey S. Harman.” They continued until they got to an empty lift and then went inside and closed the gate. “Let see where we should start… uh… Cho, how about you decide where we go, I don’t care which floor we go to.” 

Cho looked at all the buttons before she randomly pushed the number nine button. They slowly descended down seven floors until they reached floor nine. 

“Department of Mysteries.” said the cool woman’s voice. The Minister looked at the long hallway to the door on the other side and then looked at Cho. 

“Maybe we should try another floor,” he said, puzzled. “What’s down there, Minister?” 

“I don’t know myself, but whatever it is, it can’t be good.” 

“Can we have a look?” 

“I don’t think we should…” 

“Please, Minister!” 

“Well… all right then.” he said reluctantly, and together they walked down the hallway and through the door. 

They entered through the door and were led to a circular room with doors all around. They closed the door, everything became dark, and the only light was several candles with blue flames. They stood there as the room began to spin and the blue flames became almost hypnotizing. The room came to a halt and they walked through a door in front of them. They walked to a room with glimmering lights. It was entirely covered in clocks – some were grandfather clocks, others were little alarm clocks. In the few spaces not covered by clocks, there were desks. People were sitting at them, making notes on their clipboards. They did not seem to pay attention to the Minister and Cho, until a man approached them. 

“Hello there, Minister, what are you doing here?” said the man. 

“I was just giving Cho a tour when we found ourselves here.” 

“Minister?” said a woman, approaching the Minister. 

“Yes?” 

“You are needed at the Wizengamot.” 

“Right, Cho, could you wait here until I get back… uh… actually, George, will you give her a tour?” He asked, and walked away. 


	2. A Change of Plans

** CHAPTER TWO **

**A CHANGE OF PLANS**   

Cho watched the Minister walk away and looked at George’s face; he had an almost shocked expression at the thought of ‘baby-sitting’ Cho. George looked at Cho, not saying a word before it clicked in his head. 

“Right, well… uh… this room you see here is the Mystery room; we found these items from a mysterious cult in 1646. They were the cause of fifty or more murders, for their strange beliefs. When we managed to catch the last remaining member of the cult, he said that some of the items contained mysterious powers. The cult was obsessed with clocks; they always needed to know the time. He would not say whether they managed to harvest the powers, or why they always needed to know what the time was. Igor H. Chamberlain, Minister of Magic at the time, was fixated with these mysterious items, and wanted to know every little thing about them. He established the Department of Mysteries to house the investigation, in a secluded area. However, at the time of his dismissal, he failed to disband the project and when the new Minister came, he felt it necessary to continue. We were forced to continue the investigation until we cracked its secrets.” He looked at Cho; she had no idea what to do with this information but continued to listen. “All right, if you just follow me to the next room,” he continued. Cho was about to walk to the door to the circular room, but stopped when George took off in the opposite direction. 

They walked into a huge room, filled with towering shelves. The shelves were crammed with little, glowing balls. Candles with blue flames were set all along the shelves, and it was very cold in the room. Cho was caught off guard by the dramatic change of temperature, and was glad to be wearing a coat. She stared down one aisle, but could not see the end – either it became dark further on, or the shelves continued on, maybe forever! 

“This is the Prophecy room; this room is filled with every prophecy ever forecast. We keep each one here, for future reference. However, only the person that the prophecy speaks about can take it. Phinnieus Hannigan had the idea of storing prophecies here, as he felt it was important to be notified about what was to come. He placed his work here, in the Department of Mysteries, and managed to get all prophecies before 1756. The Ministry has continued to record prophecies since Phinnieus died, on May 19, 1805. Well, I’m curious as to whether you have a prophecy, would you like to find out?” 

“Yeah, let’s go ahead and see, since we’re already here,” she said, enthusiastically. 

“Well, what’s your name?” 

“Cho Chang.” 

“All right, Miss Chang, follow me… I think I saw your name, watch your step.” 

They walked down the small steps, to the left and down an aisle, passing many little orbs with small inscriptions on them. Cho did not recognize any of the names, and doubted whether her name would actually be there. Nevertheless, she kept on walking down an endless path, following George, until he suddenly stopped. Cho nearly walked into him. He seemed to be looking for the right one, looking up and down. 

“I know it’s around here somewhere… Carvey… Chager… Chagg… Chan…” 

“Do you see it?” 

“I’m sorry, but it goes from Chan to Charles; I know I’ve seen your name somewhere in one of these aisles…” 

“That’s okay, you tried, and that’s all we could’ve hoped for,” she said, sympathetically. 

“I know I’ve seen it, I’ll tell you what. I’ll contact you when I find it.” 

“Contact me by what?” 

“By an owl of course, just tell me where you live.” 

“Well, I’ll be going to Hogwarts in September, if you find it then contact me there.” 

“All right, well, let’s get out of here.” 

They slowly but steadily made their way back to the Mystery room, but did not go back into the circular room. A secret door stood behind a shelf, which led into a huge dark room. The only light came from a huge tank, full of what looked like brains. 

“This room here was used in 1548, to interrogate prisoners into giving away information. You see, a mad scientist, Dr. Garvin F. Alum, created the first brain for some crazy experiment, for his own benefit – he tried to make people do what he wanted. The brain eventually attacked the doctor, and turned him into one of his own experiments. The Ministry got hold of the two brains, and they had the idea of turning prisoners into brains to trick them into giving information. It paid off, but they did not stop using it, and more and more people were being fed to the brains. This continued until one tragic day, when the tank broke and killed the Minister, several guards, and two prisoners. The Prisoner Rights Act of 1550 stopped the Ministry from ever using the brains again. The brains stayed here, and were later put into the Department of Mysteries, as a permanent reminder of all the people who are trapped in this eternal prison.” 

Cho did not know that the Ministry History was so grim; she had always thought it was the pinnacle of the magical society. Cho just nodded, as though she was interested, but the truth was that she wanted to stop talking about the Department of Mysteries. She wished that she were being given a tour of another floor in the Ministry, and wanted the Minister to be taking her, not George. Cho wished the Minister were here, she knew the Minister would not want to listen any more, and they would have left for another floor by now. Cho was forced to stay there until the Minister came back and retrieved her. 

They continued to walk, into another room, the second biggest room they had seen so far. It was like a small rectangular amphitheatre, seats went all around the room. At the bottom was a Dais in the center of the lowered platform, upon it was an archway that was crumbling apart, it was barely standing. It was not supported by any surrounding walls but hung by a black veil that was fluttering eerily. Cho had no desire to stay here any longer than she had to, it scared her more then anything she could think of. 

“Now, this room has a troubled history. No one knows how long that archway has stood there – maybe a thousand years, maybe a hundred thousand, who knows. No one knows what it is meant to do, it was found by accident, by builders trying to expand the Ministry. One man, Herbert Garman was the first known person to cross to the other side. He never came back and was reported dead in 1546. For one year, it was a punishment to condemned prisoners to walk into the veil. Later, the Minister passed a law to discontinue use of the veil; it just stayed there and was later acknowledged by the Ministry as part of the Department of Mysteries in 1650. No one knows what is on the other side of the veil; some say it is a gateway to Hell or a portal to another dimension. Unfortunately, no investigations have been made to shed light on the subject, on account of the danger.” 

“You know, George, you know a lot about history, you must have good memory to remember all of those dates and facts,” said Cho. 

“Well, I don’t talk to people that often – I like to ask questions that I find important. I like to know about the history of the things that I’m supposed to be investigating.” 

“There you are, Cho, we have to go now,” said the Minister, hurrying up behind them. 

“What’s wrong?” she asked, worried. 

“Something has come up, you will have to go now, we will go and find Sheryl to escort you back home.” 

They walked back to the circular room; the room spun and then stopped, they were lucky enough to find the exit on the first try. They walked back to the lift, pushed the number five button, and zoomed upwards. 

“We just need to stop at the Office of Magical Law Enforcement, for a second,” he said as the elevator came to a halt. 

The elevator gate sprang open, and they stepped onto the hard stone floor. The moment the gate closed, a huge explosion could be heard from several floors up, dropping all the lifts. Screams could be heard from all the trapped people, as they quickly passed the floor that Cho and the Minister were on. The elevators fell violently, impacting on the tenth floor, killing everyone. The Minister turned around, hurried to the Office of Magical Law Enforcement and Cho had to run to catch up. 

“What is going on?” he yelled, but at that moment about twenty or so people came rushing through the door, almost hitting Cho in the back. 

“Accio Wands!” they all muttered out and everybody’s wand in the room flew at the intruders. They ducked and the wands flew past them and into the hall; one of the intruders turned and threw some black thing into the hall. An explosion caused a cave-in in the hallway; there was no way out. 

“Don’t anybody move, or you will answer to my wand!” said a man, holding out his wand. “Now, this how it goes: you people are hostages, but don’t feel bad – we got three other groups of hostages, on other floors. No one will be able to make it out of this alive unless we get what we came for,” he stopped and realised the Minister was there. “Well, looks like my luck has finally changed! I’ve got the Minister and a little girl as a hostage; well, Minister, I guess you speak for the Ministry, you will give us what we want.” 

“I will not negotiate with terrorists,” he said confidently. 

“No, then what if I killed the girl?” said the man, grabbing Cho and pointing the wand at her head. 

“What is it you want?” the Minister asked coolly. 

“What we want is all of the money the Ministry has.” 

“The Ministry does not…” 

“Don’t lie to me!” the man said, getting agitated. 

“Maybe he’s telling the truth…?” said a woman. 

“He’s trying to trick us into letting our guard down.” 

“He can’t do anything, his wand was destroyed by the cave-in, there’s nothing he can do,” said the woman. 

“You’re right, but he’s a liar.” 

“I’m telling you the truth, this is not Gringotts!” the Minister said, raising his voice. 

“And I say you’re full of it!” he yelled. 

“What happens if I’m telling you the truth, and you murder an innocent child?” 

“If I kill the girl, you will all face the same fate as her!” 

“Now think, there must be a way to end this without any bloodshed!” 

“No! Not until I get what I want!” 

“Well, how do you expect me to do that, when the only way in or out is blocked?” 

“That is a minor setback and we didn’t know you were going to be in here,” the man said, jabbing his wand harder into Cho’s head, causing her to mutter out in pain. 

“Stop that, let her go!” the Minister said angrily. 

“No.” 

“Then how do you suppose we do this?” 

“How about apparition?” 

“If we could apparate without our wands, you don’t think we would be foolish enough to stay here, do you?” 

“Alright, just let me think.” 

“Let the girl go,” the Minister said calmly. 

“Shut up and let me think!” the man said, annoyed. Cho had no idea what to do – she had never been in a hostage situation before, let alone been a hostage! All Cho could think of was whether she would get out of this alive. The man gripped her tighter, and muttered under his breath, unaware that he was jabbing his wand into Cho so hard that Cho felt it went straight through her skull. Two men, from both sides of Cho, tackled the man holding Cho, he let go of her and she ran for the Minister. A jet of red light hit both the men – they rolled around and died. The man, who seemed to be the leader of the intruders, looked as though he was about to kill everyone in the room. 

“I said NO ONE be heroes,” he said as he got up to face his group. “You spread out, and make sure no one else tries anything.” They all spread around the room, checking every one and making mild threats. The man grabbed Cho again, and she let out a scream. 

“Please, leave the girl alone…” said the Minister imploringly. Cho was glad the Minister cared about her safety, or maybe he just didn’t want a dead girl on his conscience. 

“No, Minister, I’ll just hold on to her a little bit longer!” 

“So, how do you propose to do this?” 

“I’m not sure yet, some people will want to hear from me,” the man said, and pulled out a mirror from the folds of his robe. 

“Ivan,” he said and a man appeared in the mirror. He let go of Cho, and she again ran for the Minister. 

“Have you had any luck yet?” said the man in the mirror. 

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I have the Minister as a hostage!” 

“Really? What did he say?” 

“He said there is no money.” 

“Cho, listen to me. My wand is still in my coat pocket,” the Minister whispered. “I want you to take it and put it into your pocket. Wait until I start saying the money is in the vault in the back room, then I want you to use the incantation Petrificus Totalus, and threaten them, make them drop their wands,” he said. Cho reached into his coat pocket, took his wand, and put it carefully into her pocket. 

“… Then I guess we are going to have to kill the hostages,” said the man in the mirror. 

“Now wait just a moment! You can’t kill us all if you’ve made a mistake!” said the Minister angrily. 

“We can and we will, if we don’t get what we want.” 

“I’ve told you it’s impossible to get what you want, next time why don’t you rob Gringotts, for crying out loud!” said the Minister, raising his voice. 

“We’ve had a mole in the Ministry for a long time now, and he said there was a vault full of money.” 

“There is no vault here.” 

“You are a liar, if you don’t tell me how to get to the vault I’ll kill the girl!” he said, again grabbing Cho. 

“For the last time, there is no…” 

“You’ve got to the count of three,” he said, and Cho’s heart seemed to be thumping so hard it was about to burst out of her chest. “One…” Cho froze – there was no way she could get out of this. “Two…” she cursed her sister for opening her big mouth; she really didn’t want to go to the Ministry. She just wanted to go and take one look there, maybe go to work with her parents, but not like this. “Three…” Cho stopped thinking. It was down to this. In a second she would be dead, and it would be the Ministers’ fault, he should have done something – she was too young to die. “Well, that’s too bad, Minister, a dead girl, good luck with that on Election Day! Avad…” 

“Wait! Okay, you win, the vault is in the back room – behind the book case is a hidden passage way, it will take you to the vault,” the Minister looked at Cho, she knew what to do. She reached carefully into her pocket, it was now or never. Cho stomped on the man’s foot hard and he let go of her, Cho pulled out the wand and said… 

“Petrificus Totalus!” The man fell to the ground, not moving an inch. Cho jumped on top of the man and jabbed her wand into his face, she looked up at all the people. 

“Leave him alone, little girl!” said a woman angrily. 

“I’ll kill him if you don’t let us go!” 

“You’re bluffing,” said a man at the back. 

“Am I? I know how Unforgivable Curses work; you have to really want to cause pain, to really enjoy it, and right now nothing would make me happier then to see this man suffer greatly,” said Cho, raising her voice. 

“Leave him alone” said the woman again, getting angry. 

“You have to the count of three to drop your wands.” 

“Never!” said a man. 

“One…” 

“She won’t do it.” 

“Are you really willing to risk it? Two…” 

“I think she’s not bluffing…” said another woman. 

“Three… let’s see if I’m bluffing now… Cru…” 

“Okay, everyone drop your wands now!” said the woman. 

“No, toss them over here.” said Cho confidently. 

The woman stared at Cho angrily, and then tossed her wand and looked at the others to do the same. They all threw their wands at Cho, the Minister picked up a wand on the floor. 

“Everyone, pick up a wand,” said the Minister. All the hostages got up, ran for a wand, and soon the hostages were in control. 

“Alright, let’s start by moving all of this,” said the Minister, pointing at the cave-in. 

“Windgardium Leviosa!” said a woman, some of the debris flew into the room and she carefully placed it in a corner. Soon, others did the same, and slowly but surely they moved enough debris to get through into the hallway. Everyone was carefully moved into the hallway, and they finished moving the rubble. There was enough debris to fill up the Office of Magical Law Enforcement – there was no way they could go back in there now. 

“We will have to take the stairs, move out of the way,” the Minister said to the new hostages, and they moved out of the way. “Colloportus!” he said pointing his wand at the elevator gates. “On which floors do you have hostages?” 

“They are supposed to be on floors one, six, and seven,” said the leader of the robbers. 

“Alright. Imperturbalius!” said the Minister and pointed at the wall and moved his wand around the wall to the wall on the opposite side. A reddish color field appeared in front of the hostages, Cho knew this charm created a barrier to prevent them from escaping. 

They walked down the stairs to the sixth floor, prepared for whatever lay ahead of them. When they finally reached the sixth floor, there were no wands in the hallway. Confused, they quickly walked into the Portkey Office. Everyone in the room looked at Cho, the Minister, and the others behind them. This was obviously the wrong room, so they turned around and without saying anything, stormed out of the room. They quickly walked into the Apparation Test Center and, again, there was nothing out of the ordinary. They again walked out of the room and walked to the Broom Regulatory Control and were once again there was nothing wrong in the room. They finally knew where the hostages were, and carefully walked to the Floo Network Authority Office door, the Minister hesitated before he pushed opened the doors. 

“Let them…” he stopped himself, and looked at the people in the room. They were on the floor, some were aiding the injured, others were just lying there, either passed out or dead. 

“Where did they go?” he said quickly. 

“They got a warning that you were coming, so they ran out, my guess is down the elevator shaft,” said an injured man. 

The Minister ran out the room and Cho followed him, they ran down the stairs. The Minister stopped at the foot of the stairs; Cho almost walked into him. Cho quickly realised what was the problem, there was no one behind the red field. She looked at the Minister, his face was red – he seemed to be cursing under his breath. Cho knew exactly what he was feeling, she too was mad. She could not find the words to say but simply said: 

“Minister… if no one is here, can I go home?” she asked sadly. 

“Huh? Oh, yeah, right, let’s go find your bodyguard,” he said slightly happy. They walked up to the second floor, and were horrified at the scene in front of them. The walls in the hallway had caved in; bodies were crushed by the fallen ceiling. Blood was everywhere, body parts covered the floor, and a fire seemed to be spreading. No one was alive, some seemed to be looking straight at Cho with innocent faces, others blank expressions as they stared into nothingness. Cho looked to her left and saw a woman crouched down in the shadows, Cho couldn’t tell who it was but the woman seemed to be crying. 

“Are you alright?” Cho called out, the woman was startled – she did not expect anyone to be in there. 

“Cho… is that you… oh, thank goodness you’re okay!” said the woman Cho knew to be Sheryl. Sheryl got up and walked over to Cho, who looked back up at her, annoyed. 

“Do you know if your parents are okay?” 

“I’m sure they’re fine, what happened here?” said the Minister. 

“It seems someone planted explosives on this floor to get rid of Aurors’, I wasn’t here when it blew it up. I just saw the aftermath, I… just couldn’t help myself… I couldn’t move, so I just crouched down in the corner” she said ashamedly. “I don’t suppose you want to go home now?” she asked, looking at Cho. Cho knew everyone hated what she had witnessed that day. No eleven year old should see what she saw on this floor, Cho would never forget all those eyes staring back at her, as though it was her fault, as though it was her fault for surviving. Cho just nodded, and followed Sheryl and the Minister down until they reached the atrium on the eighth floor. 

Cho was glad to see her parents were okay, they were about to leave by Floo powder. Cho ran to them, leaving Sheryl and the Minister trailing behind. Her parents shared the same feelings as Cho. They waited for Cho to catch up, and hugged her when she finally reached them. 

“Cho! You’re okay, we feared the worst when everything started to go crazy, we would have stayed but all employees are to leave immediately. Oh, except the Aurors, they are going to do a quick search through the place to make sure no one is hiding,” said her mother, obviously relieved. 

“Let’s go, we’re holding up the line,” said her father, when behind them a man cleared his throat, to signal for them to get moving. 

“Cho, how about you go first, do you know how it works?” Cho shook her head; she never travelled by Floo powder before. 

“It’s simple: just take some Floo powder from the bag there, stand next to the fire, state where you want to go very clearly and throw the powder in the moment you finish talking,” he said seriously. Cho listened very carefully and did everything her father said. 

“Eleven, Fountain Grove,” she said carefully, and threw the powder. In an instant she was engulfed in green flames. Several seconds passed and the flames disappeared, she was in her living room. She walked upstairs to her bedroom and closed the door; she crawled into bed, covered herself in her blankets, and started to cry. 


End file.
